Lock for card-index rods.



No 850,990. PATBNTED APR. 23, 1907.

' P. H. YAWMAN.

LOCK FOR CARD INDEX RODS. APPLIOATIOI nun mm 29,1906;

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atto'cnmg f J l-a No.-850,990 j PATENTED'APB- 2a, 1907'.

12.11. YAWMAN.

LOCK FOR CARD IN RODS, APPLIGATION FILED w ,1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP H. YAWMAN, OF ROCHESTER,

ERBE MANUFAOTURIN G OOMPAN PORATION OF NEW YORK.

NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO YAWMAN & Y, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A OOR- LOCK FOR CARD-INDEX RODS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed June '29, 1906. Serial No. 324,006.

the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, and to the referencenumerals marked thereon.

My resent invention relates to locking devices or card-index filing systems, wherein a drawer is employed as the container for a varying number of cards, which are normally held against removal by a longitudinallymovable rod preferably extending through apertures therein; and it has for its object to provide a convenient, cheap, and efficient means for locking said rod against removal, whereby the cards may be withdrawn either separately or as a whole only through the use of a controlling-key.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central long' tudinal sectional view of a card-drawer embodying my invention with the rod locked therein and the key withdrawn. Fig. 2 is a similar though enlarged detail view of the lock mechanism with the key inserted. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing the action of the lockingspring. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 with the key withdrawn. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2 with the key turned and the rod unlocked. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a hori. zontal longitudinal section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the lockcasing detached; and Fig. 9 is a front view of a portion of the drawer, showing the relative positions of the rod-head and keyhole.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

For present purposes the drawer represented by reference-numeral 1 and to which I have shown my improvements applied may be considered a conventional type of container embodying the side portions, bottom carrying the track 3, upon which operates the usual follower 4, and the front and rear walls 5 and 6, respectively. A casing 7 is preferably provided at the forward end adj acent the front wall to rotect the contents from contact with the ocking device about to be described. I

Located centrally of the front wall is a preferably cylindrical socket or lock-casing 8, secured therein by means of a flange 9 on the inner side, through which pass the screws 10. A cylindrical recess 11 is provided in the socket into which fits the enlarged head .12 of a lock-rod 13, passingthrough an aperture 14 at the end of the recess and through similar apertures in the casing and follower, the end thereof being normally seated in the bushing 15 in the rear wall, as is usual, while inward longitudinal movementis limited, as by the operating-knob 16, which abuts the face of the lock when the rod is properly seated.

Arranged within the reduced portion 17 of the recess 11 is a helical spring 18, one end of which abuts the bottom of the latter while the other engages a washer 19, which in turn engages a shoulder 20 on the rod when the latter is inserted and normally tending to force it outwardly. The said spring and washer are retained within the recess when the rod is withdrawn by an inner flange 21, which I find it convenient to form by slightly upsetting the shoulder formed at the outer extremity of the reduced portion of the recess with a suitable tool.

Preferably upon the same diameter with the recess 1 1 the lock-casing is bored and fitted with a locking-cylinder 22, which is held in place, but at the same time permitted to rotate by means of a pin 23 extending through the casing and cooperating with a groove 24 upon the periphery of the cylinder. The latter is provided with a central key-slot 25, extending longitudinally throughout its length on one side and across the front end, leaving a solid portion 26, through which extends an aperture 27, leading riphery of the cylinder and adapted to receive an actuating-pin 28, which normally extends partially within the rear of the key-slot. A corresponding aperture 29 in the casing is similarly fitted with a locking pin or dog 30,

from the pewhich normally registers with the aperture 27, extending therein and resting upon the end of the pin 28, where it is held by the action of a leaf-spring 31, engaging it from the exterior, the leaf-spring being secured to the outer surface of the casing by a screw 32, as shown in Fig. 8. The operation of this portion of the lock will be readily understood, a

key 33 being provided of substantially the shape of the key-slot and having a cam-surface 34 at its point and a depression 35 in rear thereof, so that when inserted the pin 28 rides thereon, raising the pin 30 against the spring and slips into the depression which is, however, of a height that will bring the adjacent ends of the pins in register with the periphery of the cylinder and allow the latter to be rotated. The lower portion of the cam 34 is cut away to accommodate the pin 23, and the key is positioned in the lock by a shoulder 36, which abuts the portion 26 of the cylinder.

Formed in the periphery of the casing is a channel or groove 37, concealed by the front wall of the drawer, and extending therefrom is a transverse segmental slot or recess 38, which intersects both the recess 11 and the base of the locking-cylinder 22, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8. Similar channels or grooves 39 and 40 are cut in the cylinder and the head 12 of the rod 13, respectively, both of which register with the slot 38, when the rod is pressed in, while a leaf-spring 41, preferably secured in the channel 37 by upsetting the walls thereof, as shown in the said figures, is bent sharply to extend and lie in the channels 39 and 40 of the cylinder and head, where it locks and prevents the removal of the rod by abutting the shoulder 42, formed thereon by the channel. The inner edge of this shoulder is beveled, as at 43, whereby uponthe insertion of the rod the sprin 41 will be temporarily displaced until ena led to snap into the position in front of the shoulder. I

WVhen the key is inserted to unlock the rod, as shown in Fig. 2, the central portion 33, which is, of the diameter of the cylinder 22, extends diametrically of the latter and intersects the channel 39, extending parallel with the spring 41, Fig. 3. As before described, the cylinder is then free to rotate, and a quarter-turn of the key in either direction raises the spring 41 by contact therewith to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, whereby it is released from engagement with the shoulder or abutment 42 of the lock-rod, and the rod is immediately forced outward by the action of the spring 18, as shown in Fig. 6. The key cannot then be withdrawn, because of the actuating-pin being held in the depression 35, until revolved to its original position, with the actuating and locking pins in alinement ready to fall in place, which renders it impossible to leave the drawer with the cylinder free to rotate, yet the rod may be slipped into engagement with the locking-spring at leisure.

A locking device of this description embodies few parts and those of great simplicity as compared with the degree of efficiency attained.

The particular form of casing which I have illustrated and which I prefer to employ is shaped altogether by turning and drilling, which results in greatly reducing the cost of manufacture, the assemblage of the parts in relation thereto being a simple process requiring but a small expenditure of time and labor.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle and a longitudinally-movable rod provided with an abutment mounted therein, of a resilient locking member carried by the receptacle and normally engaging the abutment to prevent longitudinal movement of the rod, a separate rotatable member mounted in the receptacle and provided with a key-slot and a removable key operating in the slot to engage the locking member when rotated and move it laterally from locking engagement with the rod.

2. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle, a longitudinally-movable rod carried thereby and a locking member normally engaging said rod to prevent longitudinal movement thereof, of a rotatable cylinder mounted in the receptacle having a circumferential groove and provided with a key-slot, a removable key adapted to engage the locking member when rotated and move it from engagement with the rod and a pin located in the casing and extending transversely within said groove to prevent longitudinal movement of the cylinder.

3. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle having a lockcasing mounted therein and a longitudinally movable rod extending through said casing, of a locking member within the casing and normally engaging said rod to lock it against longitudinal movement, a separate rotatable member mounted in the casing and provided with a key-slot, and a removable key adapted to enter said key-slot and disengage the locking member from the rod when rotated.

4. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle, a longitudinally-movable rod carried thereby and a locking member normally engaging said rod to prevent longitudinal movement thereof, of a separate rotatable member mounted in the receptacle and provided with a key-slot, a removable key adapted to enter said keyslot and disengage the locking member from the rod when rotated and means released by said key for locking the rotatable member against rotation.

5. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle, a longitudinally-movable rod therefor and a lock-casing having a groove and recessed to accommodate a portion of the rod, of a locking-spring secured in the groove in said casing, and extending transversely into normal engagement with the rod to prevent longitudinal movement thereof and means for operating said locking-spring out of engagement with the rod.

6. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle, a lock-casing mounted therein and provided with a recess, a rod extending through said recess, and a locking member carried by the casing and normally engaging the rod to prevent its longitudinal movement, of a rotatable cylinder having a key-slot therein, mounted in the casing, and a removable key adapted to en ter the slot in the cylinder and operating to disengage the locking member from the rod when the key and cylinder are rotated.

7. In a locking device for file-rods, the

combination with a receptacle, a lock-casing mounted therein and provided with a recessv having a reduced portion forming a shoulder and a rod extending within said recess and through the casing, of a spring located in the reduced portion of said recess and normally tending to force the rod outwardly and a flange at the end of the reduced portion of the recess inside the shoulder, to prevent the spring from escaping therefrom.

8. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with a receptacle having a lockcasing provided with apertures mounted therein, a rod extending through an aperture in said casing, a locking member carried by the casing and normally engaging said rod to prevent longitudinal movement thereof, a rotatable cylinder having akey-slot mounted in the casing and provided with an aperture normally registering with an aperture in the casing and a removable key inserted in said key-slot and adapted to engage the locking member to move it from engagement with the rod when the key and cylinder are rotated, of a locking-pin extending through the casing, a leaf-spring located exteriorly of the casingand engaging the locking-pin to normally force it into the aperture in the cylinder to lock the latter against rotation and a pin located in said aperture and operated by the key to force the locking-pin out of the aperture and allow the cylinder to rotate.

9. In a locking device for file-rods, the

combination with the casing having two adjacent recesses and a spring-actuated locking member extending transversely of said recesses, of a rod adapted to extend through one of the recesses and'having an inclined portion and a locking-shoulder in rear thereof for engagement with the locking member, a rotatable cylinder arranged in the other recess in the casing and having the key-slot, a dog for engaging and locking the cylinder from rotation, and. a removable key adapted when moved longitudinally in the slot in the cylinder to dislodge the dog and when rotated to disengage the locking member from the rod.

10. In a locking device for file-rods, the combination with the casing having the two longitudinal recesses, the transverse slot intersecting the recesses and the locking-dog aperture extending into one of the first-mentioned recesses, the spring locking member located in the transverse slot and the springoperated cylinder-locking dog, of the cylinder located in one of the first-mentioned recesses having the key-slot and the laterallymovable pin, the locking-rod in the other recess having the locking-shoulder, the spring in the casing engaging the rod and a removable key adapted when inserted in the cylinder to dislodge the cylinder-locking dog and when rotated to disengage the lockingmemher from the shoulder on the rod.

PHILIP H. YAWMAN.

Witnesses:

W. C. GREENE, L. A. LATTIME. 

